Don't Sign Until You Know. We Find What Others Miss.
2–4 weeks. 50% less than Big-4. Investment-banking rigor.
Most deals that go wrong were knowable before close. The financials that didn't add up. The customer concentration no one flagged. The litigation that surfaced six months post-acquisition.
DealPlexus catches it all , financial, commercial, operational. IB-trained specialists. Proprietary deal networks. Integrated intelligence calibrated to your specific deal.
Big-4 takes 10–14 weeks. We take 2–4. Big-4 charges a fortune. We cost 50% less. Same rigor. Faster timelines. Mid-market pricing.
The first call is a scoping conversation. We'll tell you what DD scope makes sense , before you commit.
Delivery vs 10–14 at Big-4
Less Than Deloitte / KPMG
Professionals in Network
The Team That Has Been on Both Sides of the Table
Understanding due diligence at a deep level requires having sat on both sides of deals , as the investor conducting DD, and as the operator being scrutinized. Our team has done both.
Investment banking background
Analysts and associates who have run DD processes on behalf of PE funds, strategic acquirers, and investment banks across healthcare, technology, manufacturing, consumer, and financial services sectors.
Cross-functional expertise
Financial DD, commercial DD, and operational DD conducted by specialists , not generalists trying to cover everything. Each workstream is owned by someone who lives in that domain.
Regulatory fluency
We understand what SEBI, RBI, the Companies Act, and FEMA require in transaction documentation. Our reports are structured to support regulatory filings where required.
Deal network integration
As part of the DealPlexus ecosystem , India's Financial Supermarket , our DD team has visibility into deal structures, market precedents, and counterparty behavior that standalone DD firms don't have.
No advisory conflict
We don't represent buyers and sellers on the same deal. We don't push proprietary products. Our report is your independent intelligence , full stop.
Track record includes:
- ✓DD for PE fund investments across Series A through buyout transactions
- ✓Sell-side DD preparation for founders before formal M&A processes
- ✓Vendor DD for strategic acquirers evaluating multiple targets
- ✓Operational DD for post-merger integration planning
Most Deals That Fail Were Broken Before They Closed. Here's What Proper DD Catches.
The data on post-acquisition regret is consistent: 70% of M&A deals fail to create value. The most common reason isn't market timing or integration difficulty , it's information asymmetry at the point of deal close. The buyer didn't know what they were buying.
Financial red flags that get missed:
Revenue recognition manipulation
A business showing 40% revenue growth that's actually booking multi-year contracts upfront. The underlying run-rate is flat. A standard audit review won't catch this , you need a DD analyst rebuilding the revenue schedule from contracts.
Customer concentration
The top 3 customers represent 68% of revenue. Two are on month-to-month contracts. The business looks healthy until quarter 2 post-close, when one churns. Proper commercial DD maps every key customer relationship and contract status.
Hidden liabilities
₹3 Cr in off-balance-sheet vendor payables. A tax dispute that hasn't been provided for. A personal loan from a director that's technically a company liability. These don't show up in financial statements , they surface in the legal and financial workstreams of a proper DD.
Working capital normalization
The seller presents ₹8 Cr EBITDA. After adjusting for owner compensation (understated), one-time items (overstated), and capex that's been expensed (distorted margins), the normalized EBITDA is ₹5.5 Cr. Your deal price just changed materially.
Commercial and operational red flags:
Key person dependency: The business runs on one relationship manager whose relationships are personal, not institutional.
Technology debt: The core ERP system is 12 years old and held together by one contractor. Replacement cost: ₹2 Cr and 18 months of disruption.
Regulatory non-compliance: Licenses that haven't been renewed. Environmental clearances that lapsed. Labor compliance gaps that create successor liability.
The cost of finding these issues after close:
Write-downs, renegotiation from a weak position, integration cost overruns, management distraction, and in serious cases , litigation against the seller. Proper DD at 2–5% of deal value is the most efficient insurance you can buy.
Four DD Workstreams. One Integrated Report. Complete Deal Intelligence.
We scope each engagement to your specific transaction. You can engage individual workstreams or a fully integrated DD package.
Financial Due Diligence
What it is:
A comprehensive, bottoms-up analysis of the target's financial health , rebuilding the financial story from source documents, not just reviewing what management presents.
What we examine:
- Historical financial statements (3–5 years): revenue quality, margin trends, working capital dynamics
- Management accounts vs. audited accounts: reconciliation and variance analysis
- Revenue schedule: customer-by-customer, product-by-product, contract-by-contract
- Cost structure: fixed vs. variable, one-time vs. recurring, owner compensation normalization
- Working capital analysis: seasonality, normalization, cash conversion cycle
- Debt schedule: all debt instruments, covenants, guarantees, personal loans from promoters
- Tax position: deferred tax liabilities, ongoing disputes, advance tax compliance
- Off-balance-sheet items: contingent liabilities, operating leases, related party transactions
- Quality of earnings: EBITDA bridge, normalized EBITDA, run-rate analysis
Deliverable: Financial DD report with normalized P&L, quality of earnings bridge, working capital analysis, and identified risk items with financial quantification
Timeline: 2–4 weeks
Commercial Due Diligence
What it is:
An independent assessment of the target's market position, competitive dynamics, customer relationships, and growth assumptions , answering the fundamental question: "Is this business model built to last?"
What we examine:
- Market size and growth: total addressable market, served addressable market, realistic penetration assumptions
- Competitive landscape: where does this business actually sit vs. competitors, and why does it win?
- Customer analysis: interviews with key customers (where permissible), customer satisfaction, switching costs, churn history
- Revenue quality: contract lengths, renewal rates, customer concentration, pricing power
- Sales pipeline: pipeline reliability, conversion rates, sales cycle length, management's growth assumptions tested against reality
- Key management and talent: is the leadership team capable of executing the plan?
- Channel and go-to-market: distribution strength, channel partner health, brand equity
Deliverable: Commercial DD report with market assessment, customer base analysis, competitive positioning scorecard, and management plan stress test
Timeline: 2–4 weeks (often runs in parallel with Financial DD)
Operational Due Diligence
What it is:
An analysis of how the business actually runs , processes, systems, infrastructure, and the people who operate them , with a focus on identifying operational risk and integration complexity.
What we examine:
- Operating model: how work flows from order to delivery, where the bottlenecks are, what breaks under scale
- Technology systems: ERP, CRM, core IT infrastructure , age, fitness-for-purpose, upgrade requirements and cost
- Supply chain and vendor dependencies: single-source suppliers, contract terms, pricing risk
- Key person dependencies: which functions collapse if a specific person leaves?
- HR and talent: attrition rates, compensation benchmarking, retention risk post-transaction
- Regulatory and compliance: licenses, permits, environmental clearances, labor compliance, sector-specific regulations
- Capex requirements: deferred maintenance, near-term replacement needs not reflected in the business plan
Deliverable: Operational DD report with risk register, integration complexity rating, and capex/opex normalization
Timeline: 2–3 weeks
Vendor Due Diligence (Sell-Side DD)
What it is:
A DD report prepared by the seller , or commissioned by an acquirer evaluating multiple targets , designed to accelerate the transaction process, reduce deal friction, and control the information narrative.
When you need it:
- You're a founder preparing for a formal M&A process and want to know what buyers will find before they find it
- You're a PE fund running a structured sale process and want to provide a credible DD pack to multiple bidders simultaneously
- You're an acquirer evaluating multiple targets and want a standardized DD framework applied across all of them
When a seller has a vendor DD report prepared by a credible, independent firm, buyer confidence increases, due diligence timelines compress, and deal completion rates improve. You control the process. You set the information standard.
Deliverable: Vendor DD report (Financial + Commercial) formatted for buyer distribution
Timeline: 2–3 weeks
IB-Grade Rigor. Deal-Integrated Intelligence. Half the Cost of the Big-4.
The Real Comparison
| DealPlexus | Deloitte / KPMG / EY | Boutique | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial DD | Full bottoms-up rebuild | Full bottoms-up rebuild | Review of management accounts |
| Commercial DD | Independent market analysis | Independent market analysis | Rarely offered |
| Operational DD | Cross-functional specialist team | Cross-functional specialist team | Limited |
| Integration | Fully integrated workstreams | Fully integrated workstreams | Siloed |
| Timeline | 2–4 weeks | 10–16 weeks | 4–8 weeks |
| Cost | ₹5–15 lakhs | ₹30–75 lakhs | ₹2–6 lakhs |
| Deal network access | DealPlexus proprietary network | None (advisory only) | None |
| Investor acceptance | High | Very High | Low–Medium |
The honest assessment: For transactions above ₹100 Cr involving institutional counterparties, EY and Deloitte remain relevant for their brand recognition in international deal processes. For everything else , and most Indian mid-market deals fall in this category , DealPlexus delivers equivalent analytical depth at a fraction of the cost and a quarter of the time.
What "Deal Network Integration" Actually Means
DealPlexus isn't a standalone DD firm. We are part of India's Financial Supermarket , an ecosystem that spans investment banking, fundraising advisory, valuation, and M&A deal flow. That means:
- Our DD team has context on sector deal benchmarks that standalone DD firms don't have
- If your DD surfaces a valuation question, our valuation team can respond within the same engagement
- If your DD process leads to a deal restructuring, our M&A advisory team is in the next room
- Our network of ... professionals includes sector specialists, former founders, and industry operators we can speak with to validate commercial assumptions
This integration is a structural advantage that EY and Deloitte don't offer at the mid-market level , and that boutique accounting firms simply can't replicate.
Red Flag Examples From Real Engagements
(Illustrative examples based on typical findings in Indian mid-market transactions)
Finding 1 , Revenue overstatement
Target company showing ₹22 Cr revenue. DD rebuild from contracts revealed ₹6 Cr of revenue from a related party (promoter's other company) that would not survive post-acquisition. Adjusted revenue: ₹16 Cr. Deal price renegotiated by ₹8 Cr.
Finding 2 , Tax liability
Target presented clean accounts. DD identified a disputed GST assessment of ₹3.2 Cr that the promoter had not disclosed. Deal structured with escrow holdback to cover the contingent liability.
Finding 3 , Customer concentration
Commercial DD found that 74% of revenue came from one government client whose contract was up for renewal in 4 months , post-deal close. Deal restructured with revenue milestones linked to contract renewal. Buyer protected.
Finding 4 , Key person risk
The CTO of a SaaS company held all technical architecture knowledge personally , no documentation, no backup. Post-DD, the deal included a 3-year CTO retention package as a deal condition. Acquirer protected from day-one technical risk.
Every Day Without Due Diligence Is a Day the Risk Grows
Deal timelines compress at the end. The pressure to close is real. And that's exactly when cutting corners on DD becomes most tempting, and most dangerous. The issues that surface six months post-close were almost always visible in the data before close. You just didn't look.
Request DD Scope
The first call is a scoping conversation. No obligation. We'll tell you what DD scope makes sense for your specific situation, how long it will take, and what it will cost, before you commit to anything.
Talk to a Due Diligence SpecialistWhat every engagement includes
Every Day Without Due Diligence Is a Day the Risk Grows
DealPlexus gives you the intelligence to close with confidence , or walk away with clarity. Both outcomes are valuable. Both are better than the alternative.
The first call is a scoping conversation. No obligation. We'll tell you what DD scope makes sense for your specific situation, how long it will take, and what it will cost , before you commit to anything.
DealPlexus , India's Financial Supermarket | support@dealplexus.com | +91 7428100654